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The Tides of Battle: A Decisive Blow
Ryuzaki was quietly content as he looked up at the stars, admiring the mysteries of the sky. As he dozed off on the ground, he brought his hands behind his head as a makeshift headrest. In another part of the area much farther, Ray Martinez had decided that he was getting rusty with his skills and went there to train as well as not put anyone in harms ways. He was practicing with his blade trying to focus his spirit energy to a small degree in order to maximize the use of his own spirit energy. Ryuzaki's eyes opened slightly as he felt the tell-tale feeling of reiatsu be generated. As Ray continued focusing how much energy he was using, the sword glowed hard as Ray opened his eyes which were glowing. He then sliced down causing a huge shock wave to go for miles making most of the animals including birds to fly away in fear of the power. Ryuzaki felt the jolt of the release, but still was not completely stirred, and perfect ease he continued to doze, though his curiousity was starting to rise. The area was broken as Ray looked at his sword remembering how much he had learned as he then sent out a lion roar echoing throughout the area. He then sheath his sword as he decided to walk home as it was a late night. Ryuzaki's eyes finally fully opened as he watched Ray walk past the spot where he now sat, not bothering to hide himself from this onlooker. Ray took one look then simply walked to the river as he put his hands in and drank some fresh cold water. Ryuzaki quietly pulled out a very modern looking knife, which he tossed between a forward and reverse grip as Ray drank. Ray finished as he looked up at the sky,"Make a move or quit wasting my time." He said irritated. Ryuzaki looked to Ray, "Who said I was looking for a fight? This knife... it's just a memento from someone I knew a long time ago." He pocketed the knife before murmuring, "Your assumptions tell me you aren't overly troubled with the notion of having a fight though, so what is it? Do you seek a fight to test how your training is going?" Ray looked back then smiled as he shunpo'd right at him wanting to give a punch. Ryuzaki paused only to pull from out of nowhere a sword, and plunge it into the ground, before rolling out of the way of the blow. On that instant Ray transformed quickly into his lion form allowing his hind legs to push himself farther right on top of Ryuzaki as he attempted to slash down with his sharp claws. Ryuzaki focused his power into his legs and kicked off with both of them; sending Ray flying. Ryuzaki lazily got off the ground and focused on Ray to see how he would land, still alert despite it all. In the air Ray was sent backwards as he flipped landing on all fours as he then returned to his normal form as he cracked his neck. Ryuzaki merely yawned as he heard the crack. Suddenly Ray focused his energy as he used Shunpo all around him as he created up to twenty replicas of himself as they stood together and all roared sending forward a giant shock wave. A sword appeared in a whirl of dust as Ryuzaki slashed through the shockwave; causing it to miss him as it emanated outward. Ray then jumped up as he rained down energy orbs at high speeds right at Ryuzaki as well as his replicas right at him to try and box him in. Another blade appeared in Ryuzaki's hands, which soon became a whirl of motion as he batted and deflected all of the orbs back at the replicas and Ray; causing an explosion but not harming the warrior as Ray's move was foiled. Ray felt the wind of the explosion as he landed on the ground and he looked at the boy,"Not bad but you still have alot of training to do if your going to face me." Ray said as his eyes turned to lion eyes. Ryuzaki did not let the jab at his pride slow him down, nor enrage him. He had nothing to prove; he would accept the bravado from his foe for now. He stood there awaiting Ray. Something was ominous in the wind as Ray could tell this boy had gone through many things and that it was a bit strange for Ray to be fighting. He focused as he drew his sword and took his stance to attack. Ryuzaki focused on his foe and considered where Ray was likely to go. Ray concentrated his energy as it grew bigger and bigger and formed itself into a giant lion. It roared as it then pounced right at him. Ryuzaki slid right under the lion as it pounced; slicing through the creature's belly as the lion cleared him. A smile appeared on the lion as Ray popped out of his stomach and slashed down while the replica that launched the attack disappeared. Ryuzaki's other blade easily blocked the strike from his foe from behind. With his foe still in the air, Ryuzaki again channeled power to his legs and spun around with a powerful back kick that powered directly into Ray's chest to send him flying. Ray managed to stop in mid-air as he shot down a powerful shock wave straight on Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki deftly sliced through the wave yet again, thsi time channeling energy into his arms and blades to cleanly cut through and redirected some of the energy back at Ray to collide with him in midair. Ray easily absorb the redirected energy into his left hand and shot it out through his right adding more to it and making it much faster. Ryuzaki never wavered and batted the attack away with the back of his hand; causing it to crash into the ground nearby and erupt with a small explosion. When the explosion occured Ray was right on his way to attempt another slash horizantally while he then charged a lion's head of energy into his left arm and attempted to hit him with both. Ryuzaki slid to Ray's right; avoiding the attack from his left arm and then using his own right arm to bat his foe's attack away and then turned his sword around, in perfect balance, to cut cleanly along Ray's arm on his way past; using his momentum to cut deeper. Ray was cut as he backed up and licked his wound as it poured out, he focused the reistu around the area and absorbed it into his wound completly closing it. Ray smiled as he then chuckled a bit,"Not bad, not bad at all." Ray said smiling as he could tell this fight wasn't going anywhere and that he would need to turn the tide. "Unleash, Kyuukyoku Raion!!" A black lion's head appeared right under Ray as it covered the entire area with black energy causing his blade to warp into a black sword. Ryuzaki yawned at the spectacle. Ray simply cracked his neck and chuckled,"I wonder how anyone could actually believe your strong?" Ray said. Ryuzaki said nothing as he stood there, wondering why his foe was trying to have a verbal spar in the middle of a battle of swords. Ray looked at him and shook his head as he then used a power slash that striked hard at the spot where Ryuzaki stood. Ryuzaki met the blade with one of his own, parrying the strike. Quickly he took his other blade and slapped Ray across the cheek with the flat of his free blade; drawing a line of blood before he withdrew them and kicked again into his foe's abdomen to send him flying yet again. Ray only moved a bit from the kick due to the amount of energy that surrounded Ray, he then punched the chest of Ryuzaki sending him flying straight into a wall. "That's payback." Ray said stopping the bleeding. Ryuzaki blocked with his arm; his balance perfect to the point that he did not go flying. Quickly he flew back in and in a whirl of indicernable blows slapped at Ray's face and body 3 times in the same manner as before, while at the same time keeping his blades in a position to easily block any counter Ray came up with. He then spun downward into a sweeping kick that swept Ray off his feet and allowed Ryuzaki to kick his sword away from him as he hit Ray's hand with his foot hard enough to break his fingers and destroy his grip. Ray managed to grab the attack with his left arm as he then summoned his hollow mask growling loudly as he pushed Ryuzaki away and used his telekinesis to bring his sword back to him. He then landed a few feet from him as he focused energy into the palm of his hand and fired off a cero. Ryuzaki channeled energy to his hand and allowing one of his swords to disappear, took his left hand and smashed it into the Cero; taking in all of the power before crushing it. The move scorched the long coat Ryuzaki wore but otherwise he was undamaged. In an instant while the cero was destroyed Ray managed to get up close to Ryuzaku then procceded to try and slash Ryuzaki's shoulder. Ryuzaki parried the blow and summoned his other sword back to him, striking with great force but with greater control to poke into Ray's mask and rip it off, draining him of the hollow energy he had been running on. Ray backed up and looked at him, he then checked the time and realized it was morning. He then sealed his sword and took one good look at Ryuzaki,"Impressive." was his only word as he left. Ryuzaki chuckled as he walked to the sword he had implanted in the ground. "Pride and Arrogance," he said aloud. He didn't think anyone would hear him, but Ray had stumbled into a trap, and after all of his talking, there was a lesson to be learned. Quietly he grasped the blade and closed his eyes; black reiatsu with a blue tint surrounded him for a moment until he let go. Then he sighed and murmured, "Now's the time for talking." Instantly Ray was telported directly in front of Ryuzaki, now encased in a barrier tinted by the energy Ryuzaki had just emited, "Don't bother trying to escape, stronger people than you have tried and failed." Ray simply looked around his prision then smiled,"That may be true but not everyone had this power." Ray then started to sit down and closed his eyes as he started to focus, suddenly out of nowhere an energy started building up all around Ray as he started to become more and more different then out of nowhere the energy exploded causing the shield to be destroyed as Ray was standing there in his Puraido Genkei. His form changed completly into a lion/humanoid form as the energy was supreamly heavy. Ryuzaki looked at Ray who in his pride had underestimated his foe, "Your arrogance blinds you. This barrier cannot be escaped through any amount of strength, all you destroyed was something your eyes could see so you would know your prison's boundaries. Attack me if you dare, learn the consequences of underestimating a foe you know not of." "No... My arrogance is what drives me.." Ray said as he started focusing energy into his hands, suddenly black and white sparks of spirit energy absorbed into his hand as they fused to create a black sword."Jigoku Yajuu Sakuretsu!!" Ray then simply pushed his blade down causing a powerful force behind it. The force instantly disappeared the moment it touched the point where the field had once been. Suddenly it reappeared inward and struck directly at Ray. Since the energy was a part of Ray he didn't feel a thing,"So are you just going to keep me trapped here like a coward?" he said disappointly. Ryuzaki looked at Ray for a moment, considering him, "You like striking at a person's pride, don't you? Too bad I hope to never fight for the sake of injured pride. Pride is an internal thing. It can help us stand up to those who would impose their will upon us, but it should not control our actions, should not make us cocky and arrogant. For that is a very dangerous thing indeed." Ray simply sat down and closed his eyes,"So why am i here? If it wasn't for your so called belief then why am i being caged?". Ryuzaki looked straight at him, "Don't act so superior in your thinking," he chided, "You are here, not for my pride, but for the sake of you learning the dangers of pride. If I had been a different person, do you I think I would let you off so easily to injure my pride in my face as you have done? No, I would strike you down without a second thought and be on with my life... But I'm not, so I'm teaching you so that when the day comes when you face a foe who will fight for injured pride, and is stronger than you, that you will not anger him and be killed in the name of his pride." Ray just gave an empty look not caring,"You have nothing to teach me, you ignorant child." Ray said coldly. Ryuzaki closed his eyes to the stubbornly proud warrior that was Ray, "Your words and actions say otherwise." Ray ignored the person as he then decided that this fight was not worth his time anymore and returned back into his normal form. "I've had enough of this now release me now." Ray said growling. "Are you that afraid to look at yourself in a negative light that you won't even accept advice?" shot back the equally stubborn, Ryuzaki. "You have no idea how i've seen myself in a negative light, and what are you? Just some kid who's too stubborn to realize that no one wants to listen to your advice." Ray said sighing. Ryuzaki looked up at the dawn, "Hypocritical, it truly is. I'll give you the advice whether you, a foolish hypocrite, likes it or not." Ray simply ignored him and laid down as he was listening to whatever advice the person had to offer. Ryuzaki had all the time in the world, so he simply waited for the response he knew would come eventually; Ray wouldn't want to stay there forever. Ray was starting to get irritated,"What do you want from me?" He growled as his energy started getting heavier. Ryuzaki took the energy he was trying to emanate, but was not escaping his barrier, for what it was; empty bravado. "What do you think I want from you?" "I don't know now stop wasting my time and TELL ME!!!!!!!!!!!" Ray roared as the entire area was cracked. The area only cracked in his face. Ryuzaki said sternly, "Right now you're making me want your life. You're unstable and unable to redeem yourself, thus making yourself a danger to the world." Ray glared at him,"And how exactly do you know all this? Believe it or not child I am older than you realize and you are truly a child for thinking you can defeat me?" Ray said as he started to focus his energy and placed both hands on the barrier. Ryuzaki sighed as he revealed another blade from out of nowhere, "You make it seem like it's meant to stop you through sheer force. This barrier... anything that comes into contact or tries to circumvent it... will go wherever I choose." He looked at the blade he now held, one he had suffered at before as Ray would now. Ray instantly appeared impaled on Ryuzaki's blade, eyes widened in pain. Ryuzaki whispered, "This is your punishment, as I have deigned. This blade... it's ability is 'Pain'; anything it touches has it's ability to feel pain increased to unheard of levels. Even a paper cut would cause most to pass out. It also has another effect though... Any cut it deals will not heal until the wielder says otherwise. Your regeneration and natural ability to heal will only save you from death. Right now, you can only feel the pain that grows in your chest, the pain will dull but not fade, and any new wound you take will feel terrible, no matter the size." Ryuzaki pulled an identical blade to the one currently stuck in Ray's chest and preventing him from moving. "I have another punishment for you though; so that others may also learn the cost of blinding pride." With quick movements from his free hand, Ryuzaki carved into the back of Ray's hand, the kanji for Pride. Then swiftly, he cut long slits along Ray's cheek. Both, like the wound in his chest, would not disappear until Ryuzaki decided otherwise. Knowing that no one had ever remained conscious from such a blow from this particular blade for any stretch of time (even Seireitou had not wished to test his tolerance), Ryuzaki withdrew his blade, and walked away, ensuring that his barrier encased the area around Ray, until he regained conscious. He would make sure Ray returned home, where he could be tended to and returned to some semblance of strength. Ryuzaki felt the wind whistle past him, and he smiled, allowing himself to feel some hope for Ray, even though he had long ago learned that he was prone to hoping against hope.